Mastering legend Bernie Grundman explains why the measurement crowd has it all wrong!


There's a great new interview with Bernie Grundman about the AJA UHQR where he relates that a component that a measures perfectly, but uses a lot of electronics in the signal path to get that result, sounds inferior to electronics that don't even measure flat, but have less in the pathway.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGLFTm6jMrY

I recently read one of these "reviews'' where they admit they mostly don't even listen, but just rely on measurements.  It was one of the most amateur reviews I had ever read, and now the we have one of the top trusted golden ears (one who actually creates the content) state that measurements don't indicate what something is going to sound like.

I'll take Bernie's perspective over an idiot with an analyzer touting cheap gear that measures well, just to make people feel superior about their (sometimes) midfi gear.

emailists

@mahgister : Hello. I am interested to hear more about what you are describing. In terms of using a room that is shared between “living”, and “listening”, what are your suggestions, or methods to get closer to the music with what you call “embedding”? Actually, maybe this should be another thread. My apologies to the OP. I love Bernie Grundman’s work, and this thread caught my attention, but I have read what Maghister has written in the past and felt compelled to comment. @emailists : Thank you for the link, and thank you for this thread. It is my belief also that measurements tell us relatively little about the value of a component, and its ability to reproduce music naturally. 

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/what-means-embeddings-control

I already make a thread about my own experience ...

It is better to go there if you want to discuss it ...

 

Thanks ...

 

@mahgister : Hello. I am interested to hear more about what you are describing. In terms of using a room that is shared between “living”, and “listening”, what are your suggestions, or methods to get closer to the music with what you call “embedding”? Actually, maybe this should be another thread.

Excellent points as above. The question:   how well is Bernie's hearing?

 

Happy Listening!

If that is what he is saying then he is simply incorrect. Accuracy is objective and easy to measure. There’s nothing hidden in an audio signal that can be heard but not measured. If one prefers certain inaccuracies that is an inarguable subjective preference. 

Accuracy is objective and easy to measure.

Interesting. Does the measuring device hear the same as you or I do? Do you and I hear the same? What if you have lost some hearing and still think you hear accurately?

You can measure an audio signal accurately, but accuracy of the music cannot be measured. We can try to hear it and decide. It depends on what the listener perceives as accurate to them. And you are right about audio signal.